Along with Simon Cowell and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, Brian Friedman has been another familiar face making a welcome return to The X Factor this year.

And the high-profile choreographer has been sharing his experiences of working with the contestants - revealing that he thinks Ben Haenow has made the most progress.

Speaking to Digital Spy at the Cosmo Ultimate Women Awards last night, he was asked who had come on the most during the live shows.

"I think Ben for me," he answered. "He still slips every now and again and his eyes roll back in his head - that's his weakness. But he had absolutely no stage presence - I don't think - when I first started working with him.

"He was really insecure and he didn't really know what to do and he turns it on now. So definitely the biggest progress in him."

And he also shared his thoughts of Lauren Platt's progress, adding: "Lauren is up and down. She has good weeks - you think she's getting there and then she kind of reverts back, but I think being in the bottom really helped her.

"She sounded amazing in her sing off. I was blown away in the audience and I thought it was the best she'd ever sounded - the most emotion I'd seen her sing with. So I think that it slapped her around and pushed her.

"I was talking to her about it today and she was saying, 'I think I needed it'. She said that she woke up the morning after and expected to wake up feeling upset, but she woke up hungry and ready. She's in a fighter mode now."

He also revealed that - unsurprisingly - Mel B is as passionate about the show off screen as she is when the cameras are rolling.

"Mel lets things happen, and then she just runs on set and starts trying to manoeuvre things around. She'll be in her dressing room getting ready for the show and she'll see a rehearsal up on the screen and she'll run out of her dressing room in her pyjamas with her hair in rollers and on to the set."

And he confessed that he would be delighted to have another go at being a judge - after filling in on the panel for a couple of days back in 2007.

"I would take it in a heartbeat," he said. "It was one of the most fun times ever - those two days. But I loved it. I have a lot to say and I give my critiques to them in the rehearsal studio and on set, so I am judging them all week and in an odd way I feel like they're all my acts rather than just mentoring a couple of acts."